The Simpson College women’s gymnastics team themed their final home meet of the season, “Competing for a Cause.” Each member of the team wore different colored ribbons in their hair that represented a different cause to raise awareness toward. Along with competing for a bigger purpose, the Storm broke multiple individual and team records.
Gustavus Adolphus barely scraped by to claim victory, scoring a team total of 190.275 over Simpson’s team score of 188.650. This is the smallest difference between first and second placements of the season and the Storm’s second-highest team score ever.
Apart from being only 1.625 points away from tying with the Gusties, multiple Storm gymnasts made history. Junior Emma Tolbert’s floor routine produced the highest score in any event in program history, claiming first with a 9.825 and helping the Storm clinch the floor event title with 48.300. This was the team’s second-best score in school history.
“Honestly, when I saw the score, my reaction was, ‘OMG, I finally did it!’” Tolbert said. “I love the event, but I have had a rough season this year. I’ve been working so hard, just trying to trust myself and my training. This weekend, it all paid off.”
Tolbert wore multiple ribbons in her hair, including pink for breast cancer, teal for sexual assault, purple for domestic violence and orange for leukemia. Whether it was to represent family members or personal experiences, each ribbon gave her a sense of purpose and strength going into the meet.
“The purple and teal ribbons stood for friends from back home, other gymnasts, myself and all the other girls who have had to go through these experiences,” Tolbert explained. “These are more about showing other women that they are not alone. The pink and orange represent family members; pink for my mom and orange for my boyfriend’s Mimi, who has been like a grandma to me as well.”
The team also celebrated the program’s first-ever senior, Morgan Svec, who was recognized for her gymnastics and academic career at Simpson. The Iowa native, who has been a member of Simpson’s gymnastics team since its inception, praised the program for its strong bond and supportive atmosphere.
“It is definitely a bittersweet feeling,” Svec said. “I know my girls will always have my back and support me no matter where I am in life, and the memories I’ve created with them over the last 3 years will last a lifetime. I can’t wait to come back and watch everyone next year!”
Svec sported pink and gold ribbons during the meet, representing breast cancer and fallen military.
“I chose the breast cancer awareness ribbon because I’ve had family friends who have fought and survived, including Emma’s [Tolbert] mom! I also chose to represent fallen military members because I am going into the military after graduation, and I wanted to raise more awareness for the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe,” Svec said.
Some other highlights from the meet included junior Kaelyn Tally becoming the first gymnast in program history to score at least a 9.800 on vault and helping the Storm win the event with a program-record score of 48.025. According to Simpson College Athletics, this was Tally’s ninth career vault title. Sophomore Evalyn Resnick followed with a record-breaking 9.625 on bars, breaking her own school record, and the Storm had their second-best beam score in program history with 47.025.
The team travels to St. Paul, MN, to take on the Pipers from Hamline University for their last regular season meet. The matchup is on Friday, Feb. 28, and will be streamed on the WIAC Network at 6:30 p.m.
